Tips to save on your cell phone bill

A recent survey found that as the recession deepens, as many as 60 million Americans are trying to cut their cell phone costs. ABC7 has some tips to give you a better bottom line on your cell phone bill.A cell phone may be a necessity in today's connected world, but they can be very expensive. In addition, with four major carriers offering 210 different plans, figuring out how to save can be very confusing.

"Matter of fact there is about ten million combinations of add-ons and plans that you can come up with among just the four national carriers," said Schwark Satyavolu, who created BillShrink.com to cut through the confusion.

"You can either import your bill or manually estimate the usage," said Satyavolu about the service he offers.

BillShrink.com allows your computer to analyze your usage and compare it to millions of plan combinations. There are even options to take signal strength into account. Some customers could save over $800 over two years by switching plans.

"On average, we find eight out of ten people are paying too much for their wireless service ... often by $300 or more," said Satyavolu.

For customers who use a cell phone sparingly, prepaid plans can be the best way to go. There is no contract and no early termination fee.

You can also save money by avoiding extra charges for dialing information. Instead, use the following numbers: (800) FREE-411 or (800) 373-3411 (800) GOOG-411 or (800) 466-4411